Last night’s neighborhood meeting went very well, I think.  It’s been challenging getting the group together, and I would imagine it’s going to be an even greater challenge to keep us all together, but I hope the group serves the neighborhood well for many years to come.  Francie Johnson from DOVE came to speak with us and did a very good job explaining how to form a neighborhood group and answered many of our questions.  I uploaded a couple videos from the night to the Decatur Navigator’s YouTube Channel.

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13.7% is now Decatur’s official unemployment number – the highest since 1983.  We have to remember that the real number of unemployed is always higher than the official number.  It’s going to be scary when benefits run out because I don’t know what people are going to do for jobs in Decatur, if things don’t turn around soon.

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Lincoln is having their balloon festival this weekend.  I’ve never been to it before but I think I’m going to go over this weekend and check it out!  The weather is going to be great.  What a wonderful Summer we’ve had – unless you happen to own a pool.

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And I still haven’t gotten an answer on the bike trail that was supposed to built near the Home Park and Ravina Park neighborhoods.  I drove down Center Street a couple days ago and it looks like a bike trail is being constructed in a field near Stevens Creek but I don’t know if the project has been stopped or what.  I’d really love an answer and I don’t know why it’s so hard to get one from our Park District.

Since the 2008 presidential election I’ve tuned into talk radio more frequently, watched cable news (both liberal and conservative viewpoints) and come to the realization that we’re teetering on becoming the Unglued States of America.  The media is certainly fanning the flames for both extreme liberals and extreme conservatives but there is undoubtedly a real grassroots movement in nearly every community of America, who are raising concerns about expanding roles of government and excessive spending.  These are people fed up with congress, the president and politicians in general.  They feel the Constitution is being trampled on and/or ignored and they want to take America back to its founding principles.  Of course, it’s always debatable what our Founding Fathers truly envisioned.

A group in Decatur was recently spotlighted on local radio personality Brian Byers’ talk show this morning.  The group also has a rather extensive Web site promoting their viewpoint.  www.roc-usa.net.  Their basic beliefs are in :  Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility, Personal Responsibility, The Rule of Law, and National Sovereignty. I can’t argue with those viewpoints but I remain skeptical as to their true intentions. It’s hard to believe that they are truly non-partisan though I think many Independents are jumping on their bandwagon.

What exactly is all the fuss about?  Well, congressmen who don’t listen to their constituents, a ballooning national deficit, rising unemployment numbers, fears about health care changes, and toss in some irrational, unfounded fears being spawned on the Internet, talk radio and cable news and you got yourself a movement.  America’s role in world politics is declining.  The value of the dollar has fallen in recent years.  Our trade deficit is nightmarish.  The middle-class is shrinking.  I think that last point is the straw breaking the camel’s back.  It’s middle-class and former middle-class folks who are getting rowdy out town hall meetings and attending organized tea parties.  If people feel secure in their job, have decent health care coverage and a nest egg to retire on, they’re going to be pretty complacent.  When all of that dries up, the tea bags begin being tossed from the ship and the pitchforks and garden rakes come out.